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  1. #1
    Pens win! Pens Win!!! PENS WIN!!!!!
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    Philosophy 101: Need some topics...

    Good evening,

    I need some topics for some Philosophy papers I have to write.

    Suggestions?

    So far...
    Same sex marriage
    Death penalty
    Abortion
    Immigration?

    Thanks!

  2. #2
    Campaign
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    Sylph

    Well if you troll the Youtube section you'll get some topics and some sources, but your list feels a little stale. Same sex marriage is basically decided in this country, same with abortion.

    You could make an interesting paper on the moral dichotomy of those on the right who support the death penalty, but oppose abortion. It's like they don't realize adults are simply a grown up fetus or something.

    Personally I've always been a fan of Immanuel Kant and his Critique of pure reason, which is a pretty common philosophy text, I imagine you might have already covered it. I always found his arguments on idealism an interesting starting point on the argument of self-consciousness and what makes a person self-aware. In particular, you could extend the argument that Kant makes to the upcoming evolutions in programming advancements. At what point does a self-aware program start to have a consciousness and self-realized thought. How will society adapt to the possibility that their could be artificial life created. How would the religious right view such an action or event? In addition, you could note the problems in early sci-fi writers attempts to put those artificial consciousnesses in a fictional world. For instance, Asimov's 3 laws of robots are quite frankly unsupportable in a long-term scenario. A robot with the law "to allow no harm to come to a human through inaction" would be placed in a paradox where they would have to imprison every person against their will and force them to eat healthily and exercise daily, for example.

  3. #3

    Sweaty Dick Punching Enthusiast

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    Leviathan

    Shit my old philosophy class made us write about Socrate's apology and shit...the times they are a changin'

  4. #4
    Conejita's Jolly
    Chaparrita's Dulce
    Trigger warning: Fuck your feelings.

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    On personhood, are the mind and the body connected? How? Reconcile it w/ something like AI (strong AI vs weak AI), if you can...

  5. #5
    The Shitlord
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    Somewhat related to Jefe's suggestion, you could delve into self-identification. Some people are perfectly happy with their bodies (aside from the usual weight loss etc) while others go to great lengths to make their bodies more comfortable.

    An interesting and relate-able expression of this concept is the Residual Self Image in the Matrix.

    And, if you REALLY want to go down the rabbit hole, you could make comparisons between the Matrix's overruling one's true Self Image with their blue-filter body (which is the only explanation i can think of for why such mismatches could ever occur inside the Matrix, as they surely must have) and society's own enforcement of such things.

  6. #6
    The Anti Miz
    The Anti Miz of the House of Weave

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    Philosophy in video game journalism

  7. #7
    Ridill
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    Philosophy of writing a paper on topics deemed inappropriate to write a paper on.

  8. #8
    The Anti Miz
    The Anti Miz of the House of Weave

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    Quote Originally Posted by SathFenrir View Post
    Philosophy of writing a paper on topics deemed inappropriate to write a paper on.
    There is levels to this shit

  9. #9
    E. Body
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    Odin

    There's a massive trend of Pop Culture and Philosophy.

    http://www.opencourtbooks.com/categories/pcp.htm

    http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-324354.html

    You could get cheeky and do existentialism and forum posting. We post, therefore, we exist.

  10. #10
    Electric Six groupie
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    How can you tell the difference between a human and a replicant/AI.
    How would humanity react to communication with an alien intelligent life. Or better - how would religion react.
    Can love travel faster than the speed of light and save Matthew McConaughey.

  11. #11
    Cerberus
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    Gilgamesh

    you should write about the inability of someone acting out of anger to discern that their actions/feelings are temporary and in the moment, especially when they arent aware that a difference can be discerned. furthermore the implications of those who stand by/uphold these actions/feelings from the point of anger on using "outrage" or the concept of "being offended" when the actions/feelings are called into question simply as a defense mechanism.

    if needed you could elaborate on any part of it, but a decent central focus would be "outrage culture" if youre not sure that you can conceptualize into an essay what i said above

    the world we live in is existential and where a persons perception leads the way, and as such the old clashes with the new in the form of old outdated ideals combating current confirmed theory or truth/fact encyclopedia defacto

  12. #12
    Pens win! Pens Win!!! PENS WIN!!!!!
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    Thanks everyone, some great options!!

    Hi to Bakudan, Aiden and Sath.

    Appreciate it! I'll throw up my updated topics later this week.

  13. #13
    Relic Shield
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    Monogram / poly /cheating? Mac v pc or console v pc

  14. #14
    D. Ring
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    Lakshmi

    Should lance Armstrong have lost his medals despite the overwhelming majority of competition using around the same amount of drugs/etc

  15. #15
    D. Ring
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    Lakshmi

    Title IX being stripped from universities due to the moral ethics

  16. #16
    D. Ring
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    Lakshmi

    Philosophy 101: Need some topics...

    Should people over 90 apply for another drivers license


    Meh. Most of mine are debate topics.

  17. #17
    Pens win! Pens Win!!! PENS WIN!!!!!
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    Thanks and Hey Gokku, long time no talk.

    Thanks Richardd!

    (Funny the people you grow up idolizing through FFXI, later end up helping you with your homework...)

    Picked
    Something vs. Nothing
    Life After Death?
    Right vs. Wrong
    Does God Exist?
    Freewill or destiny?
    Justice system: Rehabilitation or retribution.

    thanks everyone!

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